Conductor guide in insulating machine



Feb. 27, 1951 I w. c. EWALDSON 2,543,525

CONDUCTOR GUIDE IN INSULATING MACHINE Filed April 16, 1947 3Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

' lNl/EN 7'09 k W.C.WALD50!V BY i: T TO ENE) Feb. 27, 1951 w. c.EWALDSON CONDUCTOR GUIDE IN INSULATING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledApril 16, 1947 INVEN TOR w. c.m41.0so-

A T TORNEY Feb. 27, 1951 w. c. EWALDSON 2,543,525

CONDUCTOR GUIDE IN INSULATING mum's Filed April 16, 1947 ii Sheets-Sheet3 29 & 30 1/ I INVENTOR 5% W. a. EWALDSON A TTORNEY Patented Feb. 2?,1951 CONDUCTOR GUIDE IN INSULATING MACHINE Waldemar C. Ewaldson,Millington, N. J assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 16, 1947,Serial No. 741,921

3 Claims.

This invention relates to conductor guides in insulating machines, andmore particularly to guides for a plurality of electrical conductors ina pulp insulating machine.

Pulp insulating machines have been employed to insulate large groups ofwires simultaneously as they are advanced longitudinally with aFourdrinier wire to which pulpous material is continuously applied. Theuniform formation of the insulating coverings on the electricalconductors depends greatly upon the accurate guiding of the conductorswith respect to the plane in which the portion of the Fourdrinier wire,to which the pulp is applied, travels. The location of the plane,through which the conductors travel, with respect to the plane of theFourdrinier wire receiving the supply pulpous material may varydepending upon the gages of the conductors in each group which are to beinsulated in the machine.

An object of the invention is to provide a conductor guide in a pulpmachine which is readily variable, with respect to a Fourdrinier wire towhich pulp material is applied to cover the electrical conductor, withvariations in the gage of the conductor.

With this and other objects in view, the invention broadly comprises aconductor guide in a pulp insulating machine having a Fourdrinier wireto whic pulpous material is applied, the conductor guide including asheave to receive an electrical conductor during its advancementlongitudinally relative to the wire, a bracket to rotatably support thesheave above the wire and means to vary the position of the sheaverelative to the wire to vary the position of the conductor in thepulpous material to be formed on the conductor.

More specifically, the invention includes a mechanism for guidingelectrical conductors in a selected plane, in a pulp insulating machinehaving a driven continuous Fourdrinier wire extending around supportingrollers, as the conductors are advanced longitudinally with the upperportion of the wire between the supporting rollers and within a quantityof pulpous material continuously supplied to the said upper portion ofthe wire. The guiding mechanism comprises a plurality of like sheavesrotatably supported by like brackets mounted freely on a rotatable shafthaving end portions with axes coincident with each other and eccentricwith the central bracket supporting portion of the shaft. Spring pressedlungers are provided for the brackets to individually hold them ineither operative or inoperative positions, they being effective to holdtheir respective brackets against rotation with the shaft when the shaftis rocked from one position to another by the aid of a hand crank tovary the positions of the sheaves simultaneously relative to the wirefor variations in the sizes of electrical conductors to be guidedthrough the machine. The hand crank performs two additional functions,(1) serving as a pointer relative to a dial having indicationsrepresenting the location of the crank or pointer for the diiferentgages of electrical conductors and (2) embodying a spring pressedplunger, the leading end of which is receivable in any of a plurality ofapertures in the dial adjacent the indications thereon to lock the crankat any one of these positions.

The shaft supporting the brackets with their sheaves, as well as thehand crank and the dial is in the form of a carriage movablelongitudinally of the wire to vary the positions of the sheaves withrespect to the inlets of channels to which the supply of pulpousmaterial is fed for the individual electrical conductors. The carriageis positioned to ride upon spaced parallel tracks provided with teeth,in the form of a rack in each of their upper surfaces, to be engaged bypinion like ends of an adjusting rod, mounted for rotation in thecarriage and by the aid of which the carriage may be adjustedlongitudinally of Fourdrinier wire on its tracks and locked in adjustedposition.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description when consirlered in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of aportion of a pulp insulating machine, embodying the invention, portionsthereof being broken away;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along theline 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the structure shown inFig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line5--5 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, the control mechanism indicated generallyat I0 is made a part of a pulp insulating machine which includes aFourdrinier wire ll, of the endless type, mounted on supporting rollersl2 and I4, one or both of which are driven to cause the upper portion ofthe wire between the supporting rollers to travel in the direction ofthe arrow. Tensioning means indicated generally at 15 to create aselected variable tension in the wire is the subject matter of theapplicants copending application Serial No. 741,920, filed April 16,1947, now Patent No. 2,475,426. Pulpous material I6 is fed continuouslyto the wire H from a supply tank II provided for electrical conductors2| and individual supplies of the pulpous material l5 as they areadvanced longitudinally with the upper portion of the wire II. Theconductors 2| are received from individual supplies (not shown) anddirected to the unit H! by individual guide rollers 22.

The unit In comprises a plurality of sheaves 25 to receive theirrespective conductors 2| and guide them in a given plane with respect tothe upper portion of the wire The sheaves are identical in structure,they being provided with central apertures 26 (Fig. 5) to receive hubs21 carrying bearings 28 for rotation on hollow spindles 29. The spindle29, in each sheave unit, is carried by one leg 30 of a bracket 3|, theopposing leg 32 carrying a threaded element 33 which extends into theinternally threaded portion of the hol.ow spindle 29 assisted by a setscrew 34 to complete the spindle structure and to secure the sheave 25in place. Each sheave is free to rotate on its spindle during thelongitudinal advancement of its respective conductor. In the presentembodiment there are thirty-two sheaves and supporting bracketsidentical in structure, as well as a like number of channels l9positioned longitudinally of the upper portion of the'Fourdrinier wireEach bracket 3| is provided with a central aperture 36 to receive acentral portion 31 of a control shaft indicated generally at 39. Aportion 39 of each bracket which surrounds the central portion 31 of theshaft 38 is of a given width whereby the sides thereof will abut theadjacent sides of the similar portions of the adjacent brackets tomaintain the brackets properly positioned on the shaft leaving the shaftfree to rotate in the aligned apertures 36 of the brackets. The upperportion 40 of each bracket is arcuate in general contour with outwardlyprojecting portions 4| and 42 serving as safety stops when any of thebrackets are moved between their operative and loading positions. Theprojection 42 being larger than the projection 4| serves as a handle forits respective bracket to move the bracket from the operating positionshown in solid lines in Fig. 3 to the loading position shown in brokenlines in this figure. The bracket is moved into the loading positionwhen a new wire is to be fed through the machine.

A spring pressed p.unger 45 is provided for each bracket, these plungersbeing housed in a hollow lateral member 46 of a main carriage 41 of theunit ID. A helical spring 49 for each plunger 45 normally urges itdownwardly to be received in either recesses 50 or 5| in the arcuateportion 40 of its respective bracket to lock the bracket either in itsoperating or loading position. A knurled handle 52 mounted on the upperend of each plunger enables the operator to remove the p un;er fromeither recess 50 or 5| for movement of the bracket.

The shaft 38 has end portions 55 and 56 whose axes are aligned with eachother and eccentric with respect to the axis of the central portion 31.The portions 55 and 56 of the shaft 38 are journalled in alignedbearings 51 and 58 of the carriage 41, a hand crank 59 being fixedlymounted on the outer end of the portion 56. The crank 59 carries apointer 6| movable relative to a dial 62 which has indications 53thereon representing the different gages of conductors which may bepulled through the machine and the location of the end of the crank forthese various gages of conductors. A handle portion 55 for the crank 59is connected to a spring pressed plunger 66 positioned to be received inany one of a plurality of recesses 61 disposed adjacent the indications63 to lock the hand crank in any se.ected one of the positions. Movementof the handle 65 outwardly will remove the plunger 66 from its presentrecess and free the crank for movement to any one of the otherpositions.

The carriage 41 which supports all of the brackets 3|, together with theshaft 38, the crank 59 and the dial 62 is supported for movement onparallel rails 10, the ends of which are mounted on uprights 1| of themain frame of the machine. The upper surface of each track 10 isprovided with teeth 13 in the form of a rack. An actuating element inthe form of a rod 14 having pinion-like teeth 15 in each end thereof tointerengage the teeth 13 of the tracks, may be rotated by the aid of acentral gripping portion 11 to move the carriage toward or away from theentrance ends of the channels IS. The actuating element 14 may be lockedin place by a threaded element 19 actuable by the aid of a handle andreceivable in a threaded aperture 8| of the carriage 41.

When the pulp machine is being conditioned for operation and theselected set of thirty-two conductors 2| are being threaded through themachine, the sheaves 25 are in their loading position, shown in brokenlines in Fig. 3, where they are held by their plungers 45. After theconductors 2| have been threaded through the machine, the sheaves aremoved singly into engagement with their respective conductors and lockedin their operating positions by the plungers 45 entering their recesses50. The gage of the conductors now in the machine being known, therequired adjustments are made therefor. If the machine had previouslybeen set for 26 gage eonductors and it was now receiving 22 gageconductors, the handle 65 is moved outwardly to withdraw the punger 66from the recess 61 adjacent the indication 63 for the 26 gage positionon the dial, after which the crank is moved until the pointer 6|registers with the 22 gage position and the plunger enters the adjacentrecess 61. The mach'ne may now be set in operation, advancing theconductors in a given plane relative to and parallel with the plane ofthe upper portion of the wire while the pulpous material is fed to thewire.

The position of the conductors in a given plane relative to theFourdrinier wire is important in causing the formation of ribbons of thepulpous material centra 1y on the conductor. When the sheaves are intheir correct positions for larger conductors to be positioned centrallyin their ribbons of material, the sheaves would not guide smallerconductors centrally of smilar ribbons of material. The smallerconductors would be guided in a plane too great a distance from theFourdrinier wire resu.ting in the formation of ribbons which may or maynot surround the smaller conductors, and if they did surround theconductors, the conductors would not be centrally positioned in theribbons. Through the aid of this mechansm the sheaves may be accuratelyadjusted to simultaneously change the positions of the sheaves to causethem to guide the conductors, of any of the gages, in a selectedvariable plane relative to the plane of the wire and centrally of theribbons formed of the pulpous material in each channel after most of thewater has been removed from the material.

With certain gages of conductors, it is important for them to enter thepulpous material sooner and remain therein longer than is required forother gages of conductors in the forming of the ribbons of the materialon the conductors. This is accomplished by movement of the unit on itstracks 10 to move the sheaves 25 toward or away from the entrance endsof the channels [9 formed by the deckles 20. To move the carriage orunit the actuating element '14 is released by rotating the lockingelement 19 after which the actuating element is rotated, causing itspinion-like ends to travel along the rack-like tracks 10 until thesheaves are in the desired positions. The actuating element is againlocked in place.

Although specific improvements of the invention have been shown anddescribed, it will be understood that they are but illustrative and thatvarious modifications may be made therein without departing from thescope and spirit of this invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A mechanism for guiding electrical conductors in a selected plane, ina pulp insulating machine having a continuous Fourdrinier wire driven onspaced supporting rollers, as the conductors are advanced longitudinallyand substantially parallel with the plane of the upper portion of thewire between the supporting rollers and within a quantity of pulpcontinuously supplied to the said upper portionof the wire, the guidingmechanism comprising sheaves for the conductors, like brackets forrotatably supporting the sheaves having aligned apertures therein andspaced recesses positioned radially of the apertures, a shaft, with acentral portion extending through the said apertures to thereby supportthe brackets, having aligned end portions eccentric with the centralportion, aligned bearings to support the end portions of the shaft, aretaining plunger supported at a fixed position adjacent each bracketand normally urged to enter one of the recesses thereof to hold thebracket in its operating position with its sheave adjacent the wire, andalso normally urged to enter the other recess to hold its bracket andsheave in a loading position away from the wire, and a crank mounted onone of the end portions of the shaft to rock the shaft into any selectedone of a plurality of positions to cause the eccentric central portionof the shaft to vary the positions of the sheaves simultaneouslyrelative to the wire.

2. A mechanism for guiding electrical conductors in a selected plane, ina pulp. insulating machine having a continuous Fourdrinier wire drivenon spaced supporting rollers, as the conductors are advancedlongitudinalhr and substantially parallel with the plane of the upperportion of the wire between the supporting rollers and within a quantityof pulp continuously supplied to the said upper portion of the wire, the

shaft into any selected one of a plurality of positions to cause theeccentric central portion of the shaft to vary the positions of thesheaves simultaneously relative to the wire, and a support for thecarriage whereby the carriage may be moved relative to the upper portionof the wire in a plane parallel therewith to vary the positions of thesheaves with respect to the wire.

3. A mechanism for guiding electrical conductors in a selected plane, ina pulp insulating machine having a continuous Fourdrinier wire driven onspaced supporting rollers, as the conductors are advanced longitudinallyand substantially parallel with the plane of the upper portion of thewire between the supporting rollers and within a quantity of pulpcontinuously supplied to the said upper portion of the wire, the guidingmechanism comprising sheaves for the conductors, like brackets forrotatably supporting the sheaves having aligned apertures therein, ashaft, with a central portion extending through the said apertures tothereby support the brackets, having aligned end portions eccentric withthe central portion, a carriage having aligned bearings to support theend portions of the shaft, means supported by the carriage to hold thebrackets against rotation, a crank mounted on one of the end portions ofthe shaft to rock the shaft into any selected one of a plurality ofpositions to cause the eccentric central portion of the shaft to varythe positions of the sheaves simul-- taneously relative to the wire, asupport for the carriage whereby the carriage may be moved relative tothe upper portion of the wire in a plane parallel therewith to vary thepositions of the sheaves with respect to the wire, and means to move thecarriage on the support.

WALDEMAR C. EWALDSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

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